Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

Another Land Rover based podcast I'm afraid (at one point it sounds like I am being shaken to pieces!) but this time I have a little help with the noise reduction and sound quality.  Hopefully, it'll take the edge off it! In this (bumpy) episode, I wanted to mull on the value of critiques, competitions, and qualifications and how judges, such as me, evaluate images across all genres irrespective of specialism and come to the conclusion they all have their place. As for judging?  There is no shortcut - you need to have a wide variety of experience! Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

You'll be happy to hear that this episode is recorded in the peace and quiet of our studio - actually, I had intended to record it in the studio garden as the cool and the smells of late summer and early autumn are so seductive.  Sadly, about a million drills, chainsaws, strimmers, lawnmowers and jackhammers ruined that for me.  It wasn't nearly as peaceful as I'd hoped!  Goodness knows what our neighbours are building! Still, we're lucky to have a nice calm studio in which to record so, with a microphone, recorder and a cup of coffee, I decamped to our consultation room which is currently not being used as we impose some Covid-19 policies for safety. Anyway, this podcast was triggered by a lovely email that included a question about whether someone who is gentle and quiet could be a successful wedding or portrait photographer: do you have to be energetic and confident or does gentle and reserved have its place too? Here are my thoughts on the matter. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to

Today's podcast was recorded as I travelled to photograph a wedding.  Given this is August 2020 (the year of Covid-19) that is not a particularly common occurrence, with most of our weddings being postponed to 2021 / 2022 so I am probably sounding a little giddy! As usual, there is an update on what's been happening and then the main topic is all about understanding 'stops' - or, more precisely, why it's USEFUL to understand stops, even in this day and age of automatic everything.  I promise I do, eventually, get to the point after going through the whys and wherefores of stops, their definitions and some examples. So a slightly technical episode this one but hopefully useful nonetheless! Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or woul

Today I am musing (and, additionally, interrupting myself - not once but twice!) on being beholden to my diary.  It is, of course, completely to be expected when you run a successful portrait photography business but that doesn't make it easy.  Instead, you have to find strategies for keeping motivated, keeping the excitement and keeping up the creativity. PS. there is a slight irony in today's recording that, having had a massively scheduled day, I felt the need to add a couple of updates to the recording to talk about just how much I have enjoyed today - both personally and creatively! Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotograp

Along with thousands of other students, Jake, our son, has just had his 'A' level results. An interesting time to put it mildly.  However, it did get me thinking about how incredibly hard he worked for his mock exams (it's lucky he worked as hard as he did as it has meant he HAS been given a place on the university course that he desperately wanted!) and the parallels with our industry. It is always easy to look around and think other people have it easy but the truth is that no-one gets to be successful without a huge amount of dedication and effort.  I'm not tub-thumping in this podcast, just musing on the fact that no matter what level you're at - or in what field - to make those next steps, you have to be prepared to put in a huge amount of work. But it is always well worth the effort. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear wh

Life as a photographer can feel like you're working on your own - all those hours with the camera, lights, with Photoshop and the complexities of your own business.  But, of course, the truth is a little more nuanced than that: we may be here in our studio on our own, but we have a wealth of talent around us - our suppliers.  Every day, I sell their products, their talents, their ideas to our clients, whether it's a frame, an album or a portfolio, I am wholly reliant on numerous other people to carry my brand. In this interview, I get the chance to talk with Andy Blake, the General Manager at Kaleidoscope Framing - a company whose wonderful products we have relied on for well over a decade now.  It's a lovely interview (you may get the impression we get on well - and you'd be right!) and we talk about various aspects of the photographic industry and how things are changing - something particularly pertinent in these complicated times. The fact that we get on well isn't a coincidence - building a relationshi

This episode was recorded from the cab of my Land Rover Defender as I head to (and come back from) the wedding that held on in the diary despite of the risk of cancellation due to Covid-19 restrictions.  You have to admire their bravery and it was, in the end, a perfect day for them and for the team working with them! After everything that has happened, it wasn't obvious just how easy the day would be but, as it turned out, the day was stunning - and it looks like we'll be able to create beautiful imagery and still stay safe.  The same is true of everything we're doing at the studio to make both lifestyle and studio portraits not only safe and compliant with the 'new normal' but just as creative and exciting as they've always been. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to he

With everything going on at the moment it's all too easy to lose sight of the joy that this job brings to so many.  This podcast is about that and a bag of cooking apples. Enjoy!  If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

In this episode, I get to chat with the guy behind the software behind the business - Light Blue Software.  We've used this software for over a decade and it is the one application that each of us here is guaranteed to log into every single day. Tom asked if I would help spread the word about an offer that Light Blue extending to all of their customers (new and old) to help through these difficult times and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to invite Tom onto the podcast and ask him about the software, why it's important to track your data and what the future holds.  An interesting interview with a really genuinely lovely guy - who, like me is a techy! For details of the generous support Tom and the team at Light Blue are offering, head to lightbluesoftware.com. As is our way, I also asked Tom to nominate a book for our ever-burgeoning library of the curious and the inspirational and his nomination is Landscape Within by David Ward You can get second-hand copies (and I think there are one or two

So, how are things with you?  Still in lockdown?  Well we are here - just trying to make the best of things. Anyway, good news (for me at least!): we've been listed as the top Portrait Photography Podcast on Feedspot (https://blog.feedspot.com/portrait_photography_podcasts/) which is lovely!  I only started this podcast for fun (and because I simply love audio nearly as much as I love photography - though I freely admit I'm better with the camera than the recorder!)   We're also a regular in the top 20 iTunes podcast charts for both the UK and the US. OK, well we are for Visual Arts podcasts anyway. haha.  I don't know how many Visual Arts podcasts there are around the world - maybe not so many - but it still feels good that we listeners and subscribers out there.  Thank you! In this podcast, I mention a few things - firstly two incredible magazines: Nphoto and Professional Photo magazines. We've featured regularly in both of them and I'd love to direct you all to both of them:  https://professionalphoto.

Still here, still in lockdown, still working like crazy to make sure we're ready for when things eventually open up again, as they must, inevitably do. Right now, things are busy: we're re-designing our website and rebuilding a platform for our portfolio - a wonderful opportunity to go through images old and new and to decide which images we'll use for the next year or two in all of our literature and articles.  It's great fun but hard work! This podcast is all about that task. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

How is everyone doing?  I have to be honest, I am finding it all a little surreal - if it weren't so catastrophic it would be fascinating: from the chaotic economy to the psychology of being interned in your own home, I would love to be reading about this in the history books rather than living through it. However, life continues and I am naturally a pretty positive kind of person so we crack on and do what we can to keep the business going and to add a little joy to the world. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

  Well, in just one week things have changed incredibly rapidly! But we're stocked up, we have each other and we are staying positive.  Together we can get through this thing. So, for a while at least, the podcast will be shorter and (hopefully) more frequent. That way I might just be able to keep up with the latest news! Stay safe and be kind to yourself.  Oh, and be kind to others too. If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

During a conversation the other day, a visiting photographer to the studio passed a comment about the frames he displayed in the entrance to his own studio.  This one, short, passing comment, led me to the obvious observation that first impressions count.  And, importantly, you cannot have a second go at it. But everyone knows that right?  Of course.  So I thought I'd take a walk through our studio here to see if we live up to that very same ideal that I so often advise others. Listen to the podcast to see if our clients' initial impact when arriving at the studio is everything I think it should be! During the podcast I mention the one-on-one workshops we run here at our studio, right in the heart of our little village.  More details can be found at https://www.paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk/photography-workshops/ Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a re

It's so lovely to be in the position to sit and chat with some incredible people - and that they agree to it when I ask! This episode is with Gary Hill - a fantastic photographer, trainer, judge and all-round lovely bloke.  Admittedly we were chatting in the bar of the SWPP Convention in London which does inject a kind of 'authentic ambience' to the whole affair (which is to say - it's noisy!) We get to chat about judging, the joy of printing and the story of how Gary became a photographer - it's quite a story!   Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

Where have all our teaspoons gone?  Seriously.  They just seem to evaporate from the studio!  Soon we'll be using the handle of a knife to stir the coffee around here! But that's not really the topic of the podcast - in this podcast, a budding photographer from Glasgow emailed some questions and so I thought it would be a good way to both answer her curiosity AND have a topic for a podcast.  Ah, a little efficiency around here is definitely a good thing. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

I've just returned from the Societies Of Photographers Convention in London which has been an absolute ball!  Though I admit, I am hurting just a little. A week of laughter and learning. And maybe just a little socialising. Having sat as one of the print competition judges once again, I thought it would be helpful to relay some of the comments I heard during the process of picking this year's winning images to help you create higher scoring photographs in the future. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

Relating to your client is a key skill in social photography - and there is no escaping it.  Whatever it takes, you need to find ways of having a meaningful conversation even if you're client is (literally) a rocket scientist! Right now I am sitting at the 2020 Societies Of Photographers Convention, typing this in the hotel bar, watching photographers laughing and joking as we begin the annual print judging.  Always fun.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to record daily updates while I'm here but we'll see how it goes! In the meantime Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify. PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.u

We are already 2% of the way through 2020.  0.02 of 2020.  Go figure.   I've used that time so far to grab tools, some wood and to hack away at our studio - goodness knows it (and me) needed it.  It's a long time since I've drawn up engineering drawings and I am, honestly, loving every second. Oh, and I've been creating pictures too. So you didn't need to worry that I had retired the cameras.  They're just having a breather. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify. PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think! If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

Ah, and so here we are: 2020.  We've careered through the holidays like a kid on a brand new scooter, bouncing down the road until we've crashed headlong into the New Year, and here we are, bruised and smiling, all ready to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get back on for the ride ahead. This year, this year, is all about development and learning.  I LOVE this job - more than you can imagine - but by the end of 2019 I was utterly shattered.  Now, don't get me wrong here, 2019 was the best year we've ever had in terms of clients, shoots and, ultimately, revenue, but it was a brutal 12 months and by the time we bounced into the festive season, I was feeling anything other than festive.  Unless by 'festive' you mean sat useless in an armchair craving, of all things, sherry, a little junk TV and a sausage roll or two. Or four. It had not been a year for taking time for personal development.  So we kick off this year while the paint is still wet and it's going to be a year of learning.  I need to spen